FIGHT! Magazine - Archives » September 2012https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine
Just another WordPress siteThu, 07 Nov 2013 21:36:48 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1Editor’s Letterhttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/editors-letter-13-4887/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/editors-letter-13-4887/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 23:55:10 +0000Ladd Dunwoodyhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4887We’ve heard commentary about the evolution of MMA — how fighters can no longer reach the upper echelons of the sport on work ethic and determination alone, and how younger fighters, who have only trained MMA from their inception, promise to elevate the sport to previously unattainable heights. One such young talent is rising UFC [...]

We’ve heard commentary about the evolution of MMA — how fighters can no longer reach the upper echelons of the sport on work ethic and determination alone, and how younger fighters, who have only trained MMA from their inception, promise to elevate the sport to previously unattainable heights.

One such young talent is rising UFC welterweight star, Rory MacDonald. He’s not a Golden Gloves boxer or a world champion Tae Kwon Do fighter, and he’s never won an NCAA wrestling title. No, Rory MacDonald has a background in one thing and one thing only—mixed martial arts. Combined with raw talent and a cold, calculating demeanor, MacDonald is as purely concieved as a modern fighter can be. Carrying a formidable 13-1 professional record (4-1 in the UFC), he is set to take on a legend in Hawaii’s B.J. Penn. The scary thing? He’s still years away from reaching his full potential and hes’s only 23.

Fighting at the top of a stacked division (one ruled by his own teammate and mentor Georges St-Pierre), MacDonald’s future is sure to be one filled with tests worthy of the most stalwart warrior. On page 50, Chuck Mindenhall takes us into the mind of one of MMA’s most enigmatic young fighters to find out how he intends to handle the seemingly inevitable clash between himself and the champion who took him under wing. As it turns out, MacDonald has a plan.

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/editors-letter-13-4887/feed/0Drive to the Finishhttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/drive-to-the-finish-4891/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/drive-to-the-finish-4891/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 23:50:02 +0000Chuck Mindenhallhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4891Rory MacDonald is not the next Georges St-Pierre — he’s the first Rory MacDonald, and it’s his mission to show you what that means. Rory MacDonald lives upstairs. He warns that it’s about 60 steps to his apartment. Once up to it, he slips off his shoes, but the American doesn’t take notice. The dumb [...]

]]>Rory MacDonald is not the next Georges St-Pierre — he’s the first Rory MacDonald, and it’s his mission to show you what that means.

Rory MacDonald lives upstairs. He warns that it’s about 60 steps to his apartment. Once up to it, he slips off his shoes, but the American doesn’t take notice. The dumb American tromps right in and looks around.

“What is it with you guys?” MacDonald says. “You’re the second American that has come in here without taking off your shoes.” He half laughs. “It’s okay, though, the floor is filthy anyway.”

The floor is really not. It’s a clean hardwood in a clean apartment, renovated in an old building in Montreal in the Cote-des-Neiges section of the city. MacDonald, the brightest prospect in the UFC’s welterweight division, keeps things pretty dark in his crib. There’s not a lot of natural sunlight up there to brighten things up. That seems fitting for a guy with such an unnerving appearance of concealment.

By now, you’ve seen his game face. When MacDonald was getting ready to step into the cage against Che Mills at UFC 145 in Atlanta, Georgia, Joe Rogan pointed out the eerie psychotic calm of his expression. It is intense, that look, and it’s not just for battle. There is some of that Norman Bates vibe going on with the Canadian at all times, some of that American Psycho suave.

There’s a couple of contemporary art reproductions on his walls, a television, and some video games, and a massage chair next to the air-conditioning unit. Very spartan indeed—far more bachelor than psycho. He’s not 2,700 miles from his home in Kelowna, British Columbia, to live high in the hog. He’s in Quebec to shatter our perceptions of greatness—to shatter his own. Something about the austerity of his apartment brings home the loneliness of that pursuit.

“Check out the massage chair if you want,” he says. It’s the one luxury to be found, a black chair with kneading knobs and constricting pads to sort out tensions. MacDonald is getting ready. He has a photo shoot scheduled, which he wants to get over with as painlessly as possible because he has to train. He has to eat, then spar. All the media stuff is his burden to get through.

He goes into the bathroom to comb his hair. When he comes out, he wears that familiar zero expression. His hair is perfect, his posture straight and narrow. He’s the most no-nonsense 22-year-old to ever get into the fight racket.

“Actually, you know what—I’m 23 years old,” he says. “I forgot that I just had a birthday last week.”

All it took was the $85,000 he earned in bonus money from his UFC 115 fight with Carlos Condit to make the move to Montreal from British Columbia. Losing the fight was a catalyst, too. He wanted to get better. He wanted to train with the greatest welterweight ever, Georges St. Pierre, and the man who made him that way, Firas Zahabi.

So he came to Montreal to be serious.

How serious? He left his juvenile “Waterboy” nickname back in B.C. and turned into “Ares,” the God of War. C’est grave.

****

“At times, yes, this sport can be intimidating,” MacDonald says at the nearby Café Orange, where he has been handed his eggs over-medium and a comical heap of bacon that he holds up as if he’s got Medusa by the braids to laugh at. “But in the important times, no. In those times when you meet people, I’m still shy—I’m still myself. It’s like, I’ve kind of developed this split personality, like Jekyll and Hyde. The important times where I’m fi ghting, there’s no intimidation—I’m not scared of anybody. I feel like a gorilla.”

It turns out it’s fun to talk to MacDonald, because he’s young enough to just tell you what’s what. He’s not like his mentor/ training partner St. Pierre, who is guarded in interviews to the point of becoming unknowable. There is absolute conviction in what he’s doing in fighting, where he’s going, where he’s been.

“Then there are times when it’s just me, and I’m in this big world, a young kid, and it’s whoa. But I’ve come a long way and seen a lot of things, so I’ve grown a lot in that sense.”

It’s been a nine-year journey to these cusp moments of greatness. Back in the Vancouver suburb of Langley (where his mother lives), and later in Kelowna (where his father used to live), MacDonald was a hockey player. Though he was a good centerman, he was losing interest by the time he was 14 years old. One day while driving with his dad and brother, the conversation steered toward a “UFC kind of gym” that his brother had visited. It piqued MacDonald’s curiosity, and he had “like a million questions about it.” His father—who had dabbled in kung fu and boxing back in the day—asked him if he wanted to go check out. Rory said yes. They turned around and headed to Toshida MMA in Kelowna.

And that marks the day that Rory MacDonald, at a gangly 14 years old, became the next generation of MMA.

“There were all these big muscular dudes—nobody had shirts on,” he says. “I came in, I was probably like 125 pounds soaking wet, just a bag of bones, and I see these guys, and they’re muscular, with tattoos on them—they just looked tough. And I did not look the part. I wasn’t scare of it, but I looked like an idiot the first time. You should have seen me hitting the heavy bag.”

It was a full MMA gym that taught all the disciplines. The MacDonald you see today didn’t come from jiu-jitsu or wrestling or kickboxing or anything piecemeal—he came from everything at once, beginning in the mid-2000s.

“Eventually I got really good at it, and I became obsessed with it,” he says. “I would go to school, and I would think about MMA all day long. As soon as I could, I would take the bus across town to the gym, stay there until closing, then go home and watch fight videos until I’d pass out.”

Today, he is exactly what the future of MMA looks like. Here is a man who grew up striving to get in the UFC, unlike many of the old guard who found their way into (or fell into) MMA in adulthood. And it’s why when you run down his UFC casualty list—guys like Nate Diaz, Mike Pyle, and Mills—he can boil his strength down to one essential word.

“Balance,” he says. “That’s what I think is the biggest key, to be a balanced fi ghter. My style is to be balanced and technical, but there’s also the other half, which is to be exciting and to go for the finishes at the proper times. Some guys, they get scared and they get worried about going for the fi nish, and they lose the fight. There’s a balance in MMA. There are so many variables, you need to balance it out.”

Since losing to Condit in what was one of the most memorable come-from-behind victories in UFC history, MacDonald’s been in Montreal training at Tristar Gym with GSP and Zahabi. He’s 3-0 since moving east, all one-sided victories that have made him such a curiosity in the 170-pound division that people always bring up the crossroads dead ahead known as Georges St. Pierre.

Yet, on this sunny day in early August, he is training for his upcoming fight with the recently unretired B.J. Penn. MacDonald’s been training for Penn for a while now, as his training camps tend to be drawn out affairs. In fact, heading into his last fight with Mills, MacDonald said he burned himself out in training about a month before the bout.

“I trained my ass off for that,” he says. “They had pushed back the card [from Montreal to Atlanta] by a month, so I over-trained. I just continued my training, and I was so tired by the time the fight came around. That’s why when you see me, my striking looks so slow. It felt so slow. That’s why I took him down, because I was just not comfortable in there. I didn’t get to show my best self, but I still won.”

Now, he’s got Penn in his crosshairs, and—contrary to how it looked, and even more contrary to sanity—it was Penn who requested MacDonald be his first fight out of retirement.

“He asked Dana White to fight me, and Dana told me over dinner and I didn’t know he was out of retirement, and so I was surprised,” he says. “I talked to my coach and my manager, and they were up for it. So I made it public by going on Ariel Helwani’s show, and then everyone thinks I called him out.”

Things have been turbulent since. Penn tossed out a request on his Twitter feed to have VADA—the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association—pre-screen each of the fighters beforehand. MacDonald quickly agreed to that little bit of gamesmanship, knowing exactly what was being implied.

“He wanted to make me look stupid in the public’s eye, to take a shot at me,” MacDonald says. “I hear accusations of PEDs on Twitter all the time, because I have back acne and my face gets acne, but it’s just my age. I think people are silly. They hear all these guys that are doing it—and it sucks, because there are a lot of guys doing it—and guys like me who aren’t get thrown under the bus.”

When you’re fighting a guy like B.J. Penn, who has a loyal following of blind supporters, every little accusation is magnified. MacDonald knows it from having fought Nate Diaz, who has a similar cult backing.

MacDonald smiles it all away. Criticism is a guaranteed side effect in this line of work, and he has long toughened his skin to it. But the bottom can drop out on you at any minute in this sport, too. A few days after this interview, MacDonald took an elbow in training that gashed open his brow and required 38 stitches. Penn’s going to have to wait.

****

MacDonald drives a Saab, and, on this day, he’s bumping to rap music as he zigzags through traffic en-route to Tristar Gym. There’s a ding on the front from having hit an ice patch in the Montreal winter. The mild climate of British Columbia are a million miles from this island he now calls home. Rap is just what’s on, but he says he digs all genres of music. In fact, his walkout music is never the same, because he is a rarity in MMA—he’s not in the least bit superstitious.

One thing that doesn’t escape his attention is the talent surrounding him. French Canada is bustling with women, and if he pauses in conversation, that’s usually the reason. He’s got a roving eye. “I made a wise decision, right?” he says about moving to Montreal. He doesn’t read or speak a lick of French, and—unlike when he’s in Kelowna where he’s an icon and recognized wherever he goes—he can move about the city fairly anonymously. This is perfect for a guy who is all about focus.

“I’ve made a lot of friends, but I still have a tight circle of true friends that I see every day, and that’s important to me,” he says. One of the people that adjusted him to the city was St-Pierre. Not only that, but St-Pierre took him under wing when he was under the radar.

“When no one really knew me or anything, Georges would introduce me to them, show me the right gyms,” he says. “And seeing how much he trained and his schedule, it really gave me a good idea of what you need to be doing to be a champion. I owe him a lot for what he did for me, when nobody cared two shits.”

As for Firas, MacDonald calls him the “best in the business,” and he’s known his coach since he was 18 years old—long before he moved to Quebec. There is good synergy at Tristar.

MacDonald doesn’t exactly know what the street parking situation is, but he has a spot around back that’s safe of parking violations. He parks and grabs his stuff. He walks with his arms dangling casually at his sides, wearing striped shorts and sunglasses. He is unassumingly fi t. When his eyes meet yours, they are melancholy. The eyebrows are always a little surprised. It adds up to something very intense.

Maybe that’s what Mike Pyle saw before UFC 133. Or maybe that’s the abyss Mac- Donald forced him to look into. Pyle was one of those rare few who rubbed MacDonald the wrong way before fight night.

“He’s all talk, that guy,” MacDonald says. “He’s a mental midget. That’s what I call him, because when I look him in the eyes he breaks. He’s a very weak man. He’s just not real—he puts on a show, he puts on this parade to get where he wants to be because he’s not good enough at fighting.”

Words like that might have Pyle asking for a rematch.

“He’d get it in the street if he wants it,” MacDonald says. “He’s a waste of time in the ring.”

MacDonald calls it like he sees it. The take away? Don’t rub him wrong like Mike Pyle did.

Inside Tristar, it’s all exposed concrete with pipes running along the ceiling like a subway map. This is GSP’s house. All around are pictures of St-Pierre, and there are plenty of other images. There’s the image of Muhammad Ali saying, “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.” There’s knobby-kneed Carmen Basilio, and there’s Roberto Duran and Riddick Bowe.

There aren’t many images of the young MacDonald, but he is a presence. He wants to be the best 170-pound fighter in the world. The suspicion is that he will be very soon. Yet the best 170-pounder in the world—Georges St-Pierre—is synonymous with the bright red stars in the Tristar window. The question asks itself—can they co-exist, or is the confl ict inevitable?

“That’s a problem I’m looking forward to having one day,” Firas Zahabi says. “If I have the two best 170s in the world then I’ve done my job.” However, it’s an impasse for Zahabi, and if the day comes that St-Pierre and MacDonald are the No. 1 and No. 2, he says he’ll fi gure something out.

“Fighting each other is not an option for me because, if I do that, then I’m going to betray one of my friends,” Zahabi says. “Then I’m going to split the camp in half. I’m going to make it that money comes first before any friendships or relationships we’ve built together. I know there’s a lot of money on the
table, but I don’t care—our principles are first. You can’t give up your principles.”

Principles are the sound of the heavy bag and the zip of a jump rope and the conviction to follow through. Principles are what hangs on the walls at Tristar.

“What kind of person would I be?” Zahabi says. “I’m going to stick to my guns to the end on that. Let’s see what happens, but I’m very confi dent we would fi nd a solution. Don’t forget that Georges and Rory are very different in age. There is about 10 years difference. Georges is not going to be champion when Rory is at his peak, because he’ll be past his peak.”

And Rory’s right. There are so many challenges at 170 pounds that he can feast for years without having to cross GSP’s path. But you can’t help but notice there aren’t many pictures of MacDonald on those old walls. You can’t help but wonder of the day that might start getting to him.

****

If a day spent with MacDonald can tell you anything, it’s this he’s a very nice guy. He’s reserved, well mannered, and strict in his ways. He’s also fi ercely driven. “I don’t want to be silly and goof around, because this isn’t a joke to me,” he deadpans. “Some of these fighters are jokers—they laugh and play and giggle. They want camera time and to be noticed.

“I’m a fighter, and that’s it.”

That’s the short and simple of it. MacDonald is so unflinching, so dedicated to the idea of where he’s going, that it doesn’t sound at all audacious.

“I want to be the champion at 170, and once I feel I hit my stride and my peak, I’m going to try and take on other weight classes,” he says. “I want to do it and test myself. We’ll see what happens in the future, if I feel confi dent enough at 25 and 26 years old, then we’ll see. But the idea would be to win multiple championships at the same time.”

The real trick here is that MacDonald is living at a time in his life where boldness and modesty are still equally interchangeable. He’s barely 23 years old. Five years from now, if he makes good on his goals, that modesty might be a little harder to come by.

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/drive-to-the-finish-4891/feed/0The New Phalanxhttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-new-phalanx-4896/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-new-phalanx-4896/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 23:45:48 +0000TR Foleyhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4896Some of MMA’s most talented fighters are training under the guidance of Milwaukee-bred, Spartan-obsessed Duke Roufus. The small, yellow sign welcoming fighters to Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sits beneath the awning of the TCF Regional Bank drive-thru. The sign can’t be seen from the road, and because the gym sits in the basement of the [...]

]]>Some of MMA’s most talented fighters are training under the guidance of Milwaukee-bred, Spartan-obsessed Duke Roufus.

The small, yellow sign welcoming fighters to Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sits beneath the awning of the TCF Regional Bank drive-thru. The sign can’t be seen from the road, and because the gym sits in the basement of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist Center, there aren’t any large in-window advertisements to draw a passerby on to the premises. Roufusport doesn’t aim to be hidden, this space just happened to be the most functional in town, the spot where Milwaukee-native and MMA coach Duke Roufus has quietly assembled a small and talented band of title-hunting fighters.

Milwaukee is only 90 minutes from my home in downtown Chicago, so Roufusport seemed the logical place to start profiling gyms for FIGHT!, especially considering that UFC stars Erik Koch, Anthony Pettis, and Alan Belcher, as well as Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren all take direction from Roufus.

Fight training is based on location, and when it comes to the number of residents and trainings partners, Milwaukee—a city of 500,000 people—is running a deficit to havens like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City. And while those cities are synonymous with trendy gyms and Zen leaders, Milwaukee is a city of beers and bratwurst, perfect for Roufus’ paunchy build and steely-eyed leadership. In the largest city of a state best known for its cheese, his fiery and magnanimous leadership is steering a team of highly skilled, highly individualized fighters on the path to MMA greatness.

****

The Roufusport gym is 14,000-square feet and features three mat areas, two cages, and a Muay-Thai ring, all painted in the flat blue and bright yellow of a circa 1985 Milwaukee Brewers jersey. If that subtle homage to the city was meant to go unnoticed, then so too was the secondary logo for Roufusport in the exact typeface of the Milwaukee Tool Co.—written in narrow, sharp-angled lettering and underlined with a thunderbolt. The logo is accentuated with the ever-recognizable helmet of the Spartan army.

It’s not surprising. Milwaukee has always been Roufus’ home, and he’s all but obsessed with the successes of Spartan culture. He grew up 14 blocks from this new facility, by a family that owned and operated a series of gyms. When he decided to do the same, he opened his first gym on Third Avenue in a warehouse district where he actually lived in the same space as the gym. Although Roufus has traveled the world, winning almost 30 Muay Thai and kickboxing fights, he has always come back to Milwaukee.

As I enter the facility, I’m welcomed by Scott Joffre, who helps Roufus run the front of the gym. He takes my bag and points me to a large rectangular cage where Ben Askren is teaching UFC featherweight contender Erik Koch and 10 others how to escape a double-leg takedown against the cage. I head in, opening the cage door with a laminated sign “CAUTION: This is Sparta!” A stick-figure drawing depicts one guy kicking another backward, presumably into a deep well ala the movie 300. Fortunately, there is no kicking going on at the moment, just grappling.

“You can probably just push his head away if you’re going with a striker,” Askren says, as he palms Koch in the face and limp-legs out of the double. He repositions himself for another example. “But if you’re fighting a good wrestler like [Chad] Mendes, you’re gonna want to face him up.” Askren looks to Koch for affirmation of the dig. Koch smiles comfortably behind his mouth guard.

Mendes handed Koch the only loss of his career, a three-round decision at WEC 47 in March 2010, where Mendes took Koch down with ease. Since that loss, Koch’s development under Roufus has been dynamic, growing from a wrestler with a knack for submissions to winning back-to-back “Knockout of the Night” honors against Francisco Rivera and Raphael Assunçao. That type of talent maturation marks the progression of a Roufus-trained fighter. When UFC middleweight Alan Belcher first met Roufus, he was a BJJ blue belt who’d just been D’Arce choked by Kendall Grove. Five years later and now a black belt, Belcher destroyed ADCC runner-up Rousamir Palhares.

“He makes you more of what you already are,” Pettis says. “He doesn’t want you to be a shitty-something, he wants you to be the best-something.”

Askren is “Exhibit A” in becoming more of what you are, and then some. None of Askren’s opponents have been able to avoid being taken down by the two-time NCAA Champion wrestler and 2008 Olympian. His wrestling is a skill that has led some fans (including UFC president Dana White) to criticize his lack of action in fi ghts, and although Askren acknowledges that he hasn’t finished fights recently, he says he also needs opponents willing to engage. “I think it’s their gameplan,” says Askren. “They decide to lay there for 4:30 just so they can try to knock me out for 30 seconds at the beginning of the next round. It’s bullshit.”

“We are bringing in top guys to improve his submissions,” Roufus says. “He’ll be finishing guys. Just watch.”

Class wraps up and I change clothes in the hopes of grappling with Askren. I was a Division I All-American wrestler in 2004 and have trained jiu-jitsu the past few years, but in terms of wrestling ability, I occupy the lowest rung of recognition, while Askren swings from the highest. He wasn’t going to kick me or punch me, but entering into a grappling-only match with Ben Askren at an MMA gym is like entering into a punching-only match with Mike Tyson at an MMA gym.

Like wrestlers tend to do outside of a structured practice, Askren and I choose to forgo a warm-up, and we begin to roll. We both attempt guillotines, play a loose guard, and shake off back-takes. The Wisconsin native might look like a hippie string bean, but don’t be fooled. His nickname “Funky” was derived from the innovative scrambles he created during his time at the University of Missouri, but that style wasn’t carefree. Askren combines patience, calculation, and ruthlessness in order to break his opponents. Askren’s tactic is to allow an opponent to play to their strengths, which sometimes gets him on the wrong side of the action, but ultimately allows him to scout their game and learn about their weaknesses. It’s a style perfect for Roufus—tactical and intelligent.

“If they like structure, I give them funk,” says Askren. “If they like funk, I give them structure.” It’s an intellectual assessment Askren makes every fight, and it almost seems necessary when facing a field of MMA opponents with so many specialties and skills.

Askren intellectually assesses that I’m gassing, and after 15 minutes, I’m fl at on my back attempting an over-the-head butterfly sweep. I kick Askren in the thighs while pulling on his triceps but get nothing for my efforts. Not a gasp of air or a grunt of frustration he simply doesn’t budge, he just EXISTS in mid-air, lounging in an inverted “C” like an Olympic gymnast blasting off a vaulting horse. Askren’s legs begin to fall back to earth, and although I try to get beneath him, it’s too late. His hips slam into the mat next to me, and he secures a hand-and-arm choke, cranks, and I submit. I get why Dan Hornbuckle lay there for 25 minutes. More than any human I’ve ever rolled with, Askren is a blanket.

“I’m not going to take a guy like Ben—who is this incredible wrestler—and make him a shitty boxer,” says Roufus. He’s standing behind the counter of his gym with the cords of his white earbuds hanging off his neck and wearing a mesh tank that reveals several tattoos. “Ben just needs to learn how to not get hit, and then how to finish fights. I want him submitting guys.”

Askren submitting, Belcher punching and grappling, and Pettis kicking people in the head—there is no profile of a Roufus fighter except the dependability that they’ll be highly skilled and willing to scrap, which is equal parts technique and emotion. Unlike more popular MMA training facilities with infl uential guru-like leaders and a collection of athletes trained in a style that closely mimics each other’s, Roufus inspires his athletes to become more of what they already are—to fl ourish in their individualism. He’s become an accelerant of native talent and the firebrand that keeps them motivated and on task.

“I don’t want 20 UFC guys that are mediocre. It’s a waste of time,” says Roufus. “That’s a tough way to make a living. If you’re a fighter, your goal should be champion—not just to be in the UFC.”

As Roufus speaks, a student lumbers up in a sparkling white gi and matching belt. “Coach said that my top game is getting really good. He said if I keep it up, I can submit guys.” Roufus is leaning on his elbow but
stands up straight and looks up from his iPhone, where he’s likely updating his Twitter, the avatar to which is a Spartan. “That’s great. I told you that you’d fi nd something on top. You should keep working that stuff every day,” says Roufus.

Giving warm direction to the newbie is pleasant, but for fighters like Pettis, the respect they have for Roufus comes from more than accepting his verbal ass slaps. “If I strike with Duke,” Pettis says, “I’ll get my ass kicked. He’s just too good a striker. It’s like he’s three steps ahead of me all the time.” Pettis has been with Roufus since the gym in the warehouse, and he is as loyal of a fighter as there can be in the sometimes shady world of MMA.

“Duke’s a badass, and striking with him gives me complete confidence, because I know that he’s the best there is.”

Our roll complete, Askren heads out of the gym to do an interview in Milwaukee for Bellator. He’ll be headlining their move to SpikeTV and is readying himself for more publicity. Roufus walks over to the bags where he’s showing one of his amateur fighters how he wants him to improve on his leg kicks. I follow. He grabs a few pads and walks into the small Muay Thai cage that he built for no-escape striking sessions. His fighter is leaning into his practice kicks with serious umph. He’s energized, and with each wallop he becomes more focused. Behind him is a 20-by-10-foot poster—a stop-action series of photos of Pettis’ famous cage-limbing kick against UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson. Next to that is a small Theravada Buddhist display for burning incense.

This is where Roufus stands, at the meeting of commerce and spirituality—the fight game where he’s outnumbered by megagyms and out-shined by big names, but where he can lead similar-minded fighters with insane skills into battle, largely with good results.

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-new-phalanx-4896/feed/0Did You Know? | Cool Knowledge from the World of MMAhttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/did-you-know-cool-knowledge-from-the-world-of-mma-4899/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/did-you-know-cool-knowledge-from-the-world-of-mma-4899/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 21:55:15 +0000FIGHT! Staffhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4899Be Our Guests Guest ring card girls Rachelle Leah and Logan Stanton made their triumphant return to the Octagon at UFC 149. It was the best action on that card. Title Wave Urijah Faber is 5-0 in his last five non-title fights. However, he is 0-5 in his last five title fights. Ultimate Tebowing New [...]

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/did-you-know-cool-knowledge-from-the-world-of-mma-4899/feed/0They Said That | Verbal Jambalayahttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/they-said-that-verbal-jambalaya-4903/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/they-said-that-verbal-jambalaya-4903/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 21:50:14 +0000FIGHT! Staffhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4903He’s Not Joshing “I think every MMA promotion in the world needs a guy like me. The UFC needs people who can not only fight, but also are able to capture the audience’s attention and expand that market. Nobody can fill that void like I do.” —Josh Barnett to mmajunkie.com. Pit Potty Party “Just when [...]

He’s Not Joshing

“I think every MMA promotion in the world needs a guy like me. The UFC needs people who can not only fight, but also are able to capture the audience’s attention and expand that market. Nobody can fill that void like I do.”
—Josh Barnett to mmajunkie.com.

Pit Potty Party

I’m the Fire Starter

“The bridge over in San Jose [American Kickboxing Academy] is pretty much burnt. And it’s nothing with anybody over there, there’s only one person, and we all know that person is Javier [Mendez]. I just wasn’t happy, and it wasn’t the place for me anymore… I hope the gym burns to the ground. Is that bad?”
—Josh Koscheck to Fight Hub TV.

Game Over

“Fuck video games. I’m not a video game geek. I’ve got better shit to do with my time. I liked to play poker in casinos when I lived in Vegas. I like to smoke a joint to chill out and relax—be pain free and forget about life for a minute.”
—Phil Baroni to FIGHT! Magazine.

Saucer of Milk

“You can’t go around acting like you’re the best thing since sliced bread, talk crap about the ring girls posing in Playboy, and then pose ‘artistically nude’ for ESPN The Magazine. It’s hypocritical, and I have lost all respect for her [Ronda Rousey] as a person outside of her athletic accomplishments.”
—Miesha Tate via Facebook.

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/they-said-that-verbal-jambalaya-4903/feed/0Health Radarhttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/health-radar-were-not-doctors-we-just-play-one-on-tv-4906/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/health-radar-were-not-doctors-we-just-play-one-on-tv-4906/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 21:40:42 +0000FIGHT! Staffhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4906Wide Load Use a wide grip on the chin-up bar to beef up your back muscles. Wide-grip chin-ups take some of the strain off of your biceps and force your lats to pull the load. To perform wide-grip chin-ups, grab the bar with your hands double-shoulder-width apart. Pull your body upward so that your chin [...]

Wide Load

Use a wide grip on the chin-up bar to beef up your back muscles. Wide-grip chin-ups take some of the strain off of your biceps and force your lats to pull the load. To perform wide-grip chin-ups, grab the bar with your hands double-shoulder-width apart. Pull your body upward so that your chin is elevated above the height of the bar. Squeeze your shoulder blades together during your ascent. Once your chin has cleared the bar, allow your arms to return to full extension.

Playing Chicken

Are you a breast man or a thigh man? We’re talking chicken of course. By the numbers, a chicken breast is healthier, but thighs aren’t far behind. Although they have more fat, thighs are still high in protein while boasting lots of flavor and a lower price tag.

Potty Mouth

Mouthguards, when stored or cleaned improperly, can harbor alarming amounts of bacteria and microorganisms. Be sure to clean your mouthguard with an approved antibacterial rinse after every use, and replace your mouthguard on a regular basis.

Breakfast of Champions

September is National Better Breakfast Month, so take a page from The Dolce Diet and create the perfect Breakfast Bowl.

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Reduce flame and mix in berries and oat bran, stirring often until desired consistency is reached. Mix in flax seeds, raisins, and cinnamon. Pour into bowl, add peanut butter or almond butter, and top with banana. Add in a dash of almond milk or water to thin out oat bran if desired.

Sexual Healing

There is no sufficient scientific evidence to support the long perpetuated theory that athletes should avoid sex before competition. In fact, studies show that regular sexual activity supports stronger immune function and also naturally elevates testosterone levels.

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/health-radar-were-not-doctors-we-just-play-one-on-tv-4906/feed/05 Minutes With Mike Swickhttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/5-minutes-with-mike-swick-4908/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/5-minutes-with-mike-swick-4908/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 21:35:40 +0000Steven Marroccohttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4908How many text messages did you get after your Knockout of the Night performance against DaMarques Johnson on UFC on Fox 4? That was the most feedback I’ve ever gotten for any fight in my career—Twitter, text messages, emails, phone calls. I think every person that I’ve ever met watched this fight. It was great [...]

How many text messages did you get after your Knockout of the Night performance against DaMarques Johnson on UFC on Fox 4?

That was the most feedback I’ve ever gotten for any fight in my career—Twitter, text messages, emails, phone calls. I think every person that I’ve ever met watched this fight. It was great how it turned out, but I had a lot of pressure beforehand. I heard about all these parties, and people were like, ‘We’re counting on you.’

You certainly came through with flying colors. Where do you think you are in the division right now?

I feel like it was a rusty performance. I think I fought well and did what I was supposed to do, but I definitely want to fine-tune some things and be a little cleaner with my strategy. The more I fight, the more I will get used to being back out there. Two-and-a-half years is a long, long time to be away from the Octagon.

Have you already spent your $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus?

No way, dude. I’m all business outside of fighting. It’s going to be invested in my current businesses or future businesses. I have a screen-printing shop. We do custom t-shirts, shorts, banners, stickers, decals. It’s cool when I’m printing the shorts and shirts that our guys are out there fighting in.

Just as long as you don’t put any more foil on your shirts.

Yeah, we’re a no-foil shop.

When you’re walking to the cage, do you ever say to yourself, ‘What the hell am I doing with my life?’

Not now. I did in the beginning, when I was fighting in 1998, and I’d walk out to a cage that was half built and half torn down. I was fi ghting a guy with a mohawk and cut-off jeans, and everyone in the audience was drunk and throwing beer cans at me. There was definitely a moment where I was like, ‘Why am I entertaining these people?’

That sounds pretty fun.

It was like Fight Club. Back in those days, it was a lot different than fighting live on FOX.

Since you suffer from esophageal spasms that severely limit your diet, what was on your post-fight eating list?

I can’t eat anything spicy, which sucks. I can’t do any of the binging like I used to. Super high-sugar foods cause spasms, but I managed to get one milkshake at Johnny Rockets, and it was pretty sweet. I pretty much didn’t go dairy this entire training camp.

Do you plan on wrapping yourself in bubble wrap to make sure you never miss a fight again?

It wasn’t injuries. It was what I was eating. I was so malnourished. I was eating so unhealthy. I was eating proteins and carbs and breads, and so I think I was just frail. Now, I should be no different than anyone else in terms of injuries.

Did you hear that Dana White called you ‘Mr. Glass’ during a prefight conference call?

Even funnier than that—well before they knew about my health issue, Dana told me I had an action figure, and I was all excited because it was in the first series that came out. I was so happy. And then he said, ‘Well, the only thing is, when people take it out of the package, it’s going to fall apart. The legs and arms are going to fall off.’ He really led me to believe it, so I expected my action figure to be on crutches or something. I was relieved to find out it was a normal figure. I had to pull it out and try to break it to be sure.

Speaking of things that are hard to break, have you ever gotten a commemorative rocket launcher from all the military tours you’ve done?

I could never get those through customs. Someone gave me a lead .50-caliber bullet in Iraq, and I put it in my carry-on. I completely forgot about it, and I actually made it all the way home. It was a cool souvenir and kind of a shock that they didn’t find anything.

You’re a big poker player. Do you ever sit in on any cash games when you’re overseas?

I can’t confi rm or deny doing cash games. I play fun games where we play for absolute fun.

What’s next for you? Vacation? Poker? Fighting?

I’m just thinking about fighting. Right now, I need to have a little scope—a real in-and-out operation. After that, I’ll be right back in the gym getting ready for a fi ght. I want to keep fighting. I don’t want any time off. No more ring rust.

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/5-minutes-with-mike-swick-4908/feed/0New Gearhttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/new-gear-8-4912/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/new-gear-8-4912/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 21:25:01 +0000FIGHT! Staffhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4912You Can’t Put a Price Tag on Happiness 1. Roots of Fight USA Wrestling Tee It’s a good time to be a wrestling fan—Team U.S.A. came home from the London Games with two golds and one bronze in freestyle wrestling. Show the mat-men your support by sporting this Roots of Fight tri-blend tee. $34.99 – [...]

You Can’t Put a Price Tag on Happiness

1. Roots of Fight USA Wrestling Tee
It’s a good time to be a wrestling fan—Team U.S.A. came home from the London Games with two golds and one bronze in freestyle wrestling. Show the mat-men your support by sporting this Roots of Fight tri-blend tee.
$34.99 – rootsoffight.com

3. Baddass Stack Workout Drink
Maximize muscle growth and your time in the gym with this two-in-one pre- and post-workout drink. If you’re looking to get bigger, stronger, and faster, Baddass Stack will give you a boost.
$59.99 – baddass.com

]]>https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/new-gear-8-4912/feed/0Behind the Fighthttps://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/behind-the-fight-4-4914/
https://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/behind-the-fight-4-4914/#commentsWed, 15 Aug 2012 21:15:49 +0000Terry E. Bushhttp://mag.fightmagazine.com/?p=4914Former power lifter and pro mixed martial artist Mike Dolce knows about making the cut. The author of Three Weeks to Shredded and The Dolce Diet: Living Lean has found a compelling niche in the MMA world—working with fighters to help them win the battle against the scale. How did you get started helping fighters [...]

Former power lifter and pro mixed martial artist Mike Dolce knows about making the cut. The author of Three Weeks to Shredded and The Dolce Diet: Living Lean has found a compelling niche in the MMA world—working with fighters to help them win the battle against the scale.

How did you get started helping fighters make weight?

We all eat and breathe and sleep every day, and I just happened to start paying attention to all these variables at a very early age. I’ve been collecting and applying this data my whole life, so it was a natural progression.

What is your job title?

My role is as a coach, which is really how I identify. I’m not just a lifestyle coach or a diet coach or a performance coach. I try to coach the whole system. I try to fi ll in the cracks where necessary. I’ve been an athlete. I’ve been a fighter. I’ve cut 40 pounds in a week. I know what it’s like. I’ve experienced fighting at a very high professional level. I’ve been a part of that as a teammate and a coach.

You’ve had more than 20 pro MMA fights, which speaks to your level of commitment to the sport. Does this add another layer of understanding that transfers to your clients?

I believe so. I hope so. I like to lead by example. I train when my athletes train. I train right beside my guys. When my athletes cut weight, I cut weight. We do the same things. We eat the same things.

You’re working with some of the top names in MMA—Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping, Rampage Jackson, Thiago Alves, Vitor Belfort, Gray Maynard, Jake Ellenberger, and Johny Hendricks. Historically, some of those guys have had trouble making weight. What is the process like when a fighter calls to hire you?

It’s absolutely amazing when I get a phone call. I try to see what they need, and if it’s something I feel I’m capable of doing, we meet face to face. I spend some time with them just to see if we get along. I usually shadow them. I go through their day, I watch them eat their meals, and I look in their cabinets and their refrigerator. I go to work with them, I pick up their kids from school with them—it’s a day in their life. Then we’ll have a conversation about changes and adjustments and formulate plans.

Who has been a fighter who you’ve been really proud of with the end result of a transformation you were able to assist with?

Thiago Alves is really high on the list. And Vitor Belfort has a special story. He won the world title when he was 19 years old, and he’s now 35 years old. That’s 16 years of competing at a world-class level. That’s a long time to do that to your body and go through so many training camps and so many wars, so for him to bring me on after he missed weight against Rich Franklin was important for me. They brought me in to help him make 185 pounds, and his next cut was the easiest weight cut of his career. His wife cried and they called me their angel because they were all so nervous about him cutting weight because he’s a big guy and he’s already healthy. He lives on really clean and healthy food, and he and his family live that lifestyle, so for me
to be able to come in and make that type of dramatic improvement was really great. I don’t work with an athlete for just one fight, I work with them for their career. I’m not going to leave them for a bigger payday or bigger limelight or any of that stuff. It’s a family. We plan years in advance. I have a seven-year plan with Thiago Alves. It’s a science that’s result-based and data-driven.

What’s on your horizon in the coming months?

I average being on the road six months out of the year. It’s a very erratic lifestyle, so I’m just sort of this floating soul who’s trying to share my knowledge. I keep going and I keep answering the call and the call keeps getting greater. It’s not just athletes—it’s corporations, too. I’m continuing the evolution—just to keep helping and spreading the positive energy and keep pushing that forward.

Dani Nardi moves at her own speed—fast. When the 28-year-old, black-haired beauty isn’t throwing hands at Roufusport MMA Academy, she’s got her foot on the pedal, finger on the trigger, and eyes on the prize.

Yeah, [laughing] you could say that, but it would be an understatement. What can I say? I like a little adventure.

How did you get into cars?

I basically grew up around them. I was a track brat. My dad raced for 20 years, so I was at the track every weekend. When I was 15 years old, I started racing.

How did you get into cars?

I basically grew up around them. I was a track brat. My dad raced for 20 years, so I was at the track every weekend. When I was 15 years old, I started racing.

And now you work on Ferraris?

Yeah, I rebuild Weber carburetors and intake manifolds. We do a lot of custom work and fabrication on vintage Ferraris and create parts, but I hardly do it anymore since I started modeling full-time.

What are you driving today?

I have a 1999 Eclipse that I race, but I spun a rod bearing last year. I had the option to fix the problem and swap out a motor, but I got carried away and started rebuilding a fi rst generation motor. Of course, I wanted to do it all myself, so that’s why it’s taking so long. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling with modeling, but it will be finished in a week. I can’t wait—445 horsepower. This baby moves.

What kind of guns are in your arsenal?

I have a Benelli Nova pump 12 gauge shotgun, a DSA Stg 58 version of the FN FAL, an AMT Hardballer longslide .45, and a semi-auto Bulgarian AK74.

Do you do any hunting or just spray copper at the range?

Just the range. I’m not sure I could hurt an animal.

But you don’t mind punching guys in the face at Roufusport?

That’s no problem [laughing]. That’s lots of fun.

How long have you been training mixed martial arts?

I’ve been with Duke [Roufus] for almost two years.

Do you consider yourself more of a stand-up fighter or ground fighter?

I’m pretty well-rounded. I go back and forth. Sometimes I feel great on the ground, and other days I feel great on my feet.

Are you planning to fight professionally?

I just did a grappling tourney, and Duke asked me if I wanted to fight. He always told me that he would let me know when I was ready. So, I think I’m ready. Duke calls me Testa Dura, which means “hard-headed” in Italian, because when I spar, I’m really aggressive and don’t back down, even when I probably should.

Do you get sick of people saying that you are too pretty to fight?

Of course. All the time. It’s so annoying. Modeling is for modeling. Fighting is for fi ghting. But I’ve gotten a lot of support from my family and friends.

How do your parents feel about you fighting?

They don’t like when I get cut or bruised, so I try not to give them too many details about guys punching me in the nose [laughing].

Who’s your favorite fighter?

My boyfriend.

That’s a solid answer. Who is this mystery man?

Pascal Krauss.

How did he win you over?

I saw him the first day he came to Roufusport and thought that he was very handsome, but I was set on not dating anyone at the gym, so I tried to avoid him for two weeks, but we kept making eye contact. Eventually, I was at a grappling tourney and he came up next to me and we started talking. We went out and hit it off.

Do you get nervous when he fights?

I’m a nervous wreck. My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. Seeing him get hit—I wanted to jump into the cage.

You should do that.

I’m not too sure that would go over very well [laughing]. Can you image what Rogan and Goldie would say? I just make sure that the person sitting next to me holds on to me.

I bet hopping that Octagon fence would be a great adrenaline rush.

That’s one adrenaline boost that I’m going to try to do without…for the time being [laughing].